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The whole reason centre right party's win elections is enough of that 99% can be convinced their interest lie with policies that also favour the 1%, or that policies that benefit those at the bottom are as much a threat to their status as it is to the tiny elites.

The whole reason centre right party’s win elections is enough of that 99% can be convinced their interest lie with policies that also favour the 1%, or that policies that benefit those at the bottom are as much a threat to their status as it is to the tiny elites.

Or to put it succinctly, 'false consciousness'. It's how the New Right cashed in on the Reagan Democrats, the Essex Man and the Howard battler.

What would it take to successfully challenge it? Transparency is just the start.

Up until 1987 the National party favoured a huge state sector, import controls, subsidies, a fixed exchange rate, industrial intervention, etc. It was basically “socialism run by Tories”.

But that was largely true globally, the swing to neo liberalism didn't really kick off to Thatcher & Reagan's victories. The post war consensus isn't the same thing as Tories being more leftwing, it was more about maintaining a economic status quo than anything you'd really identify as 'socialism'.